Inside Zille and Ndlozi's war of words over Ramaphosa’s Ukraine and Russia 'peace mission' trip

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s not-so-smooth trip to Russia and Ukraine for peace talks has seen opposition political parties clash over whether it was worth it.

Ramaphosa was part of a delegation of African leaders who visited Ukraine and Russia seeking to promote a peaceful resolution to the war. They met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

The journey was anything but smooth as more than 120 people, including journalists and members of the presidential protection services, were stuck in Poland because of aviation regulations and bureaucracy last Thursday.

DA federal chairperson Helen Zille and EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi had different takes on the peace talks.

Zille described the trip as a “shameful fiasco” .

“Do you think this is something to be proud of? Most decent, thinking South Africans are ashamed of this whole fiasco. You bring nothing but shame on our country (and not only on your ‘peace missions’). Come home and fix our electricity supply. And save Agoa [African Growth and Opportunity Act],” she told Ramaphosa.

She also defended DA leader John Steenhuisen's visit to Ukraine last May.

“John did not pretend to be on a peace mission to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine. He went to see what was happening on the ground in Ukraine. Big difference.”

Ndlozi responded to Zille's comments, questioning her stance.

“We have got to be serious. Why the hell would anyone have a problem with people who seek to create peace? The truly shameful thing for any decent and thinking South African is you being so up in arms against African heads of state trying to create peace. Sies,” he wrote.  

The DA said Ramaphosa's trip should be declared “wasteful expenditure”.

The party accused the government of choosing Russia in the war, while Ramaphosa has been adamant it was not in support of any country but was pushing for the war to be resolved through talks.  

Ramaphosa said the African leaders made a presentation to Zelensky and Putin to put a stop to the conflict

“We believe everything should be done to end the fighting to prevent further loss of life, injury, displacement and destruction. As the international community we need to work together to prevent any further suffering.

“Both Presidents Zelensky and Putin agreed to further engagements following this initial visit.”

Here is how some people reacted to the Russia and Ukraine trip:   

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.